Cardeno C.'s Blog, page 67

Summer Lovin' by Felice Stevens

Now that I've wrapped up my Breakfast Club series and the spin-off, Learning to Love is out, I figured it would be a good time to take stock and see what I have coming for the summer.

After I finished writing Learning to Love (which, if you haven't read, you can purchase HERE) I fully intended to start Rico's story. Rico of the mysterious dark eyes and back story. Well, Rico proved even to mysterious for ME, because he just isn't talking. No matter how much I argued with him, he simply isn't ready for his story to be told.

Not to worry, I'll simply start up again on my radio show romance and see what's cooking between the talk radio psychologist and his hesitant, once a week caller.

Instead, when I sat down to write, another story popped into my head screaming "Me, Me!! Pick Me!! It was a story of two deeply wounded men, who think they can have a physical relationship without involving their hearts. Well they may have thought so, but this evil writer knows better. They wandered into my world of Happily Ever After and they were going to get one.

And so, The Arrangement was born. These two guys, Carter and Reed are sweet, lost, sexy and frustrating but when they meet up its explosive. I totally feel for them. It was a journey I took with them, and not since Rescued did I feel like I had a story to tell so strongly.
If you'd like to read the blurb you can add it on Goodreads. Release date is tentatively July 12.



After that, it's back to my Radio show romance (I do need a title. Got any suggestions?) Then maybe Rico will start talking. And come August, a little surprise. 
But that's for next week.
:)

Test Drive by Riley Hart

I'm so happy to announce that the third book in the Crossroads series is here! I loved writing Justin and Drew. Yes, I know I always say that. LOL. But these two... *swoon* something about that just got me. I fell in love with these two men and their romance. I feel so honored that I got to give them a HEA.

Amazon

B&N

iBooks

Kobo



A double shot of devastating news turns Justin Evanson’s life upside down. When he learns his father has cancer, and he has siblings he never knew existed, he leaves everything behind and moves to Virginia to support his dad as he tries to make amends with his family—a family Justin’s not sure he has a place in. Things go from bad to worse when he discovers his recent hookup is his newfound sister’s brother-in-law.

Drew Sinclair never expected to see Justin after their night at the club or to discover their family connection. If anyone found out, it would give Drew’s brother another reason to hate him. But there’s something about Justin that draws him in, and it’s not only because they burn up the sheets together.

One meeting leads to another, and before Justin realizes it, Drew has become the only thing in his world he feels is his. And for the first time in his life, Drew knows what it means to be needed. Being there for Justin and supporting him when things spiral out of control feels right. But with so much happening so quickly, it’s hard to trust their feelings. Is this thing between them real? Or just a test drive before life forces them down two separate roads?

Ask Andrew - New Readers

Dear Andrew

For readers who haven't tried your books yet, how do you think your editor or loyal readers would describe your books?

Dawn


Dear Dawn

That's a hard question.  I would like my readers to describe my book as amazingly awesome and like book crack on steroids.  :)   But I think if I had to choose one word that I would like people to describe my books it would be 'kind.'  The world is full of nastiness and cruelty and we all have way too much stress and angst in our lives.   So I want my books to be the antidote. 

I read an article a few months ago about how authors each seem to have a theme that they go back to again and again almost without realizing it.  I know I do.  Family is a recurring theme in my books, building your own rather than necessarily accepting the one we're born with, so I would hope my readers and editors would agree with me. 

So how about I end with this.  When reading my books I would hope three things for my readers, they would laugh a little, cry a little and get excited a little.  If that happens then I'm happy... and if the readers learns something they didn't know before... that's a real bonus.

Hugs and Love
Andrew

Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author.  The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture.    I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.

So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net.  This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost.  I will answer one question a week.

Please remember this is meant to be all in fun.  (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.)    So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.

Visit Andrew on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks  and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.

Follow him on Twitter:  @andrewgreybooks

Visit Andrew's web site:  www,andrewgreybooks.com

Talking Kink with BA, Julia, Kiernan and Sean

We're talking about kinks today!

What is the strangest kink you've ever written?

BA: Does making a vibrator into a fishing lure count? *grins*

Julia: Hmmm. I tend to be pretty fond of my regular suspects. I like spanking and bondage and voyeurism. I think the strangest on I've ever written is a slave auction. I had a ball with that. 

Kiernan: Sounding. I tell this story all the time. My editor contacted me and said the publisher needed a story for a story on sounds, and was I interested? I said sure -- thinking they meant sounds as in music, dirty talk, etc. After I agreed, I googled it. Oy. I obviously had no idea what sounding was, but to my credit, managed to write a story. LOL

Sean: Probably prostate milking (In Briar Rose: Controlling Parker)


What is the strangest kink you've ever heard of?

BA: Oculingus --eyeball licking. O.o 
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=oculingus

Julia: Crowning. Blame Sean and BA. Look it up. O.O

Kiernan: Oh, brother. There are so many to choose from! Balloons are a good one. People get off rubbing on them.  Eyeball-licking is another one. Mechanophilia is getting aroused by having sex with machinery. Some folks like to have sex with cars. Not in them...with them. As in humping the exhaust pipe.  Or vacuum cleaners. Talk about a suck job!

Sean: Well, honestly, I think scat and golden showers are very, very strange (and totally not sexy)


What kink did you used to think was really hard core, but now doesn't seem as hard core?

BA: Hrm...urethral sounding, I think. I used to think that was the wildest thing ever and now it's just sort of yummy. ;-)

Julia: Fisting. I mean, I know it's dangerous and I rarely write it anymore unless I write it in a paranormal, but for a while there every m/m book had to have a fisting in it, so it got old hat.

Kiernan: Fisting. Back in the day, I used to think that was as kinky as one could get. Now, it's been written so often it's almost blasé compared to relatively more cutting edge (pun intended) fetishes like knife play and branding.  

Sean: All of them. I used to think fisting was super kinky, then sounding. Then pony play... that bar just keeps on moving the more I write.

Got questions? Send them on!

You can find us on Twitter at @seanmichael09, @juliatalbot, @batortuga and @KiernanKelly

Sean’s website is http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com
Julia’s is http://www.juliatalbot.com
 BA’s is http://www.batortuga.com
Kiernan's is www.KiernanKelly.com

Facebook:
Sean -- https://www.facebook.com/SeanMichaelW...
Julia -- https://www.facebook.com/juliatalbota...
BA -- https://www.facebook.com/batortuga
Kiernan -- https://www.facebook.com/kiernan.kelly


Sean
smut fixes everything

Which of Your Books Should I Read First? by Cardeno C.

Readers sometimes ask which of my books they should read first. All of my books are standalones that can be read in any order so the answer doesn’t relate to a specific book in a collection. Instead, I suggest choosing a book based on what interests you. Here are descriptions to help you choose.

Paranormal (Shifter) Stories
If you want Alpha/Omega dynamics and a hurt/comfort theme, choose Blue Mountain.Two untraditional Alphas, some misunderstandings, and a baby. If you like MPreg, Red River is the one for you.If you enjoy Alpha/Alpha relationships, an enemies-to-lovers overlay, and a clueless narrator whose heart is in the right place, if only he can find it, try In Your Eyes.Wake Me Up Inside gives you childhood friends to lovers, a male, human mate - two things that aren’t possible, and a powerful Alpha who risks everything for his beloved.In Until Forever Comes, you’ll get Alpha/Omega dynamics with a powerful vampire and a sickly, strong-hearted wolf shifter who go against their cultures and their histories to be together.All of Me: Two Alpha shifters bonded in childhood and torn apart when they were supposed to be together get another chance, more than a little hurt/comfort in this one.Lion shifters, Alpha/Omega dynamics, hurt/comfort, and redemptions - Johnnie.
Contemporary Stories
If you’re interested in dirty talk and a character who experiences personal growth, go with The Half of Us.If you want a contemporary childhood-friends-to-lovers, and a relationship-that-falls-apart-before-it-blooms, with a snarky narrator who gets his men (plural intentional), try More Than Everything.If you like opposites attract stories and an imperfect hero who could use a harsh wake up call and gets it, consider my contemporary novel Something in the Way He Needs.If hurt/comfort is your thing, you like your heroes, big, strong, and sweet, and enjoy an age gap, Strong Enough is a good choice.A snarky, foul-mouthed, highly-sexed never-going-to-settle-down playboy meets his match in a patient virgin. If an opposites attract story with a smoking high heat level is your thing, read He Completes Me.In Home Again you get a mix of childhood-friends-to-lovers and lovers reunited.A coming out story, a finding yourself story, a building a family story, a holding onto love story - Just What the Truth Is.Love at First Sight - an older/younger pairing with a touch of hurt/comfort, a high dose of sex, and, as the title promises, love at first sight.In The One Who Saves Me our childhood friends become lovers early on, but the relationship comes much later. If reading about true, deep, lifelong friendship is your thing, try this book.If a contemporary book could have fated mates, it would be Where He Ends & I Begin. These best friends since birth realize they both want a relationship at the beginning of the novel - see how two men who have always been in love fall even deeper.Walk With Me is my version of a romantic comedy, friends-to-lovers style.Perfect Imperfections: A rock star romance with a slow burn and a bit of a “marriage of convenience” feel.Enemies to lovers on one side, an unrequited crush on the other, and a lot of comfort needed for past hurts in between: A Shot at Forgiveness. Take one clueless movie star, add in a loyal-to-a-fault best friend, and mix them in a night where the past is seen in a different light and you get love in Places in Time.Two redemption novellas in one volume - In Another Life has two men who fall in love not once, but twice, and Eight Days has two boys who fall in love but need to grow into men before they recognize it.Opposites attract when a quiet, gentle giant of a farmer takes on a party boy in need of redemption in McFarland’s Farm.Jesse’s Diner: An age gap romance with a shy young man who doesn’t realize he is being seduced by his best friend’s hunky dad.In Strange Bedfellows, two late 30s/early 40s men who were raised to be enemies meet and realize their hearts and dreams overshadow politics.Humor, a long-standing crush that finally gets requited, and two sexy Alphas - Jumping In.
I added this list to my website and I'll keep it updated as I have new releases.

Have a terrific week!

CC
www.cardenoc.com

My belated epiphany by Renae Kaye

I just had an epiphany.  It was amazing.
(Seriously – I have a book coming at the end of the year with a character that has epiphanies.  So I’m feeling very Vinnie-like at the moment.)
The epiphany I had involves a little of my history.  I’m not sure why I didn’t see it before!  I claim baby brain, although my youngest is six…
Anyway, to take you back to my you’ve-become-a-responsible-adult period of my life.  I was young and studying full-time (40 hours) at university.  I’d just started dating the man who I’d end up marrying.  I was also working 25 hours a week.  Hubby was also studying full-time and working about the same amount of hours. (At the same place!  Workplace romances at the best.)  It was hard and I was struggling to fit in the study and the work as well as a social life, but luckily I was living at home and Mum was there to help with the meals and washing.
Hubby and I figured out early in our relationship that we’d found someone special, and we decided to move in together.  But I didn’t want to rent, which meant we had to save enough for a house and commit to a mortgage.  We weren’t earning enough with our two part-time jobs for a bank loan, so I made one of the best decisions of my life.  I quit university and went out and found a full-time job.
After 6 months, we’d saved enough and had enough credit history to sink our dough into a house.  It was a small, run-down house in a not-so-good suburb.  But we could (just) afford the mortgage with our 1.5 salaries and we were determined.
(Hubby then broke his ankle and was unable to work for over six weeks, but that’s another story.) 
For the next 18 months we worked it hard.  Hubby finished studying, found a trainee apprenticeship and went to work full-time.  With both of us working, we often were tired and fought about dumb things – whose turn was it to do the dishes/cooking/washing and who worked harder than the other.  The house was rundown, and so any extra money we had went on renovations – and those take time and effort.  Time went by.  Hubby quit his job and found a better one, with more pay.  I changed jobs for less stress and more money.  Hubby was made redundant, then found a better job.
We worked, we saved, we were tired.  My job especially was one that required horrendous hours one week a month, so I would come home grumpy and would bitch about the mess.
Then, around the time we got married, I quit my job.  I looked at hubby with his nice salary and said, “Do you know what?  I’m not going to find a full-time job.  We’re planning on trying for a baby, and I don’t need the stress of another full-time job.  I’m going to find a part-time one.”
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
And this is why I can’t believe I never saw it before.  I often tell people that our relationship was 600% better once I had a part-time job.  I worked 26 hours a week over four days.  It meant I was home an hour earlier than hubby each week day, and would clean up the house and have dinner started by the time he got home.  It also meant I had one day a week to do all of those jobs like grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning.  It left our weekends free, stopped our petty fights about whose turn it was for the dishes and left me so less stressed.
I advocate for couples to spend less time at work, and lessen the stress on their relationship.  I’m happy to be the one who takes on the greater burden of housework and only work part-time.  I believe that people are obsessed with material possessions, and should take a step back from that drive to earn more-more-more so they can have more-more-more.
So what’s my epiphany?  Somewhere along the way I stopped applying this to my life.  Nine years ago I stopped working when I had my first child.  Then I had another.  I raised the children and did the housework, while hubby worked full-time.  Anyone with children will realise that being a mother can be a full-time job in itself.
Financially we were a bit stretched, and hubby said that when our youngest hit school, I should go out and find a small job for a bit of extra cash.  I chose to try and build myself a career from writing.  Instead of working 10 hours a week at a job outside the home, I’m putting in about 30 hours a week to writing.

But wow.  Hang on.  If mothering is a full-time job (and I’m nodding very hard here) and the housework now includes cooking and cleaning for four people, and on top of that I’ve added 30 hours of writing work… I’m working the equivalent of 1.5 full-time jobs.  Oh, wow.  No wonder I’m frazzled.
I often see authors who mention their Significant Other in terms of them supporting their writing by “helping out” with some of the paperwork side.  Their husbands accompany them to signings, assist with shipping, format their documents, upload to Amazon, and keep an eye on sales.  I’m “totes jelly” over it.  My hubby is a wonderful man, but everything to do with writing is not his thing.  Ask him to build an aquarium stand using only the material from an old, large wooden crate – he did it.  Ask him to build a retaining wall – he did it.  Ask him to paint the house, install insulation, retile the bathroom, lay flooring, pave the patio area, install curtaining, service the car, remodel the kitchen, or design and build a retic system for the garden… Pft!  Did you want that done today, or next weekend?
So I limp along, knowing he doesn’t understand a single thing I worry about.  And I keep it to myself.  And I probably keep it to myself about how much work I actually do.  Because it’s never occurred to me that I’m probably working too hard. 
I need to give myself a break – not only an actual break, but also not be so hard on myself.  I need to stop comparing myself to authors who are either single persons or have a support network that allows them to disappear into their writing cave for fourteen hours.  I need to stop thinking about how many words per hour this author writes compared to me.  I guess I need to stop comparing full-stop.
I write this blog for my own satisfaction, but also for anyone who tries to compare themselves negatively to others.  Maybe you don’t have the full picture.  You see that mother at the school with four kids who are always dressed impeccably and a full-time job… but you don’t realise her mother lives with her and can take care of the cleaning and ironing.  You see your workmate who earns the same amount as you, but has rocked up to work in a brand new BMW… but you don’t realise their father gave them the money.  You see your friend has lost another 5kgs while you’re still struggling with the first two… but you don’t realise that their body is different to yours and they have a different lifestyle to you.
Let’s stop being so hard on ourselves, okay?   There’s enough in this world to worry about and people who will hassle us without unnecessarily adding to it.  Happy weekend. *hugs*
How to contact Renae: Email:  renaekaye@iinet.net.au Website:  www.renaekaye.weebly.com FB:  www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9 Twitter:  @renaekkaye

Odd and Ends by Riley Hart

Hello! First, I wanted to let you know I'll be signing books at The Ripped Bodice with Felice Stevens this weekend. If you live in Southern California, we'd love it if you could come out! We're really excited. For those of you who don't know, they're the first romance only bookstore!




Next, it's only FOUR more days until TEST DRIVE is here. I fell in love hard writing Justin and Drew's book. I'm really excited for you guys to get the chance to read it. The preorder is live on Amazon. You can find it HERE.



A double shot of devastating news turns Justin Evanson’s life upside down. When he learns his father has cancer, and he has siblings he never knew existed, he leaves everything behind and moves to Virginia to support his dad as he tries to make amends with his family—a family Justin’s not sure he has a place in. Things go from bad to worse when he discovers his recent hookup is his newfound sister’s brother-in-law.

Drew Sinclair never expected to see Justin after their night at the club or to discover their family connection. If anyone found out, it would give Drew’s brother another reason to hate him. But there’s something about Justin that draws him in, and it’s not only because they burn up the sheets together.

One meeting leads to another, and before Justin realizes it, Drew has become the only thing in his world he feels is his. And for the first time in his life, Drew knows what it means to be needed. Being there for Justin and supporting him when things spiral out of control feels right. But with so much happening so quickly, it’s hard to trust their feelings. Is this thing between them real? Or just a test drive before life forces them down two separate roads?

The People Behind the Author - Andrew Grey

A Thank You Note

This blog post is dedicated to the people who make the author look good!!!   Each of the authors you love has a number of people behind them to help make their work shine.  These include the editors and cover artists that you'd expect, but there are also layout people and production people who help put the books at the various locations so they can be sold.  And when there's a problem, the post production people help correct it.  This is true for authors with a publisher or self published authors because they either do it themselves or they have help because the sheer number of tasks can be overwhelming sometimes. 

No one is good at everything and publishing requires a lot of different skills.  For those self published authors who are able to manage the entire process themselves, I applaud you.  For many of us, we have help and this post is to say thank you!  To everyone out there who works with the author to help make what we do better, I want to say that I appreciate all your efforts and hard work.  Its your behind the scenes work that makes all of us look good and delivers the books that readers want.

So thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!!!!!   And now I'm off to create more work for you.  :)

Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author.  The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture.    I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.

So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net.  This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost.  I will answer one question a week.

Please remember this is meant to be all in fun.  (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.)    So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.

Visit Andrew on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks  and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.

Follow him on Twitter:  @andrewgreybooks

Visit Andrew's web site:  www,andrewgreybooks.com

Q&A Plot vs sex with BA, Julia, Sean and Kiernan

Hey y'all!

The question this week is. "Can you have plot and lots of sex in the same story?"

Sean says, "The answer to this for me is an unequivocal yes. I don't see the two as mutually exclusive at all. You can have a little sex and plot, or a lot of sex and plot. In fact, I bet a story could be all sex and still have a plot. Sex can further the story as much as any other kind of scene can."

From Kiernan: Of course you can have sex and plot. Sex can drive the plot, help develop the relationship between the characters, and even offer up a ready-made conflict for the story. But mostly because, you know...sex. Naked sex. Pushed up against the wall sex. Out in the backyard sex in full view of the neighbors and garden gnomes sex. Sex in a barn, on a plane, on a train. See? Sex. Oh, and plot. plot is good, too.

BA has feels: We're writers. We can have whatever the fuck we want. That's why it's fiction.

I love plot. I love sex. I love plotty sex (which autocorrected to potty sex which is TOTALLY not what I typed, thank you very much). I love wham bam no reason but the fucking sex. I love a meaty plot wherein there isn't a hint of sex at all. I love reading and writing and I have zero idea why this has to be so complicated. We're telling stories. We're scaring and spooking and falling in love and goofing off and intriguing and making people laugh.

Or at least that's what I'm trying to do.

Loving books is my world -- sexy, boring, silly, scary, stupid, harsh, intense, fluffy, light and dark and all the colors of the rainbow.

Remember, this is joy. Write what makes you happy. Read what makes you happy. Let the rest go.

And also, much love, y'all.

Julia has a cray cray moment:

Runs around in circles beating herself on the head.

Ahhhhh! If one more person tells me sex cannot co-exist with plot I will shoot something with a bazooka. Oh, man, I wish I had a bazooka. But the answer is yes, of course. Now, sometimes a story is just about the sex. Sometimes that's what the call asks for. Sometimes that's what the characters call for. I love how, in Sean Micahel's Jarheads series, for example, sex is how the boys communicate. That's the only way they do. Then there are my shifters, for whom sex is a political, establishing their place in the pack. I know not everyone loves lots of sex, but there's a book for everyone! Let's not hate on what someone else loves to read!

Plus, I really like spanking...

XXOO, Much love, and all the rest

The Tuesday Crew

Got questions? Send them on!

You can find us on Twitter at @seanmichael09, @juliatalbot, @batortuga and @KiernanKelly

Sean’s website is http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com

Julia’s is http://www.juliatalbot.com BA’s is http://www.batortuga.com

Kiernan's is www.KiernanKelly.com

Facebook:

Sean -- https://www.facebook.com/SeanMichaelW...

Julia -- https://www.facebook.com/juliatalbota...

BA -- https://www.facebook.com/batortuga

Kiernan -- https://www.facebook.com/kiernan.kelly

Hugs

Julia

Totally Peachy by Cardeno C.

Happy Monday! My week is off to a peachy start. Literally. My peach tree had a great crop this year and every peach seemed to get ripe at once so I had a lot of picking to do!

With this many peaches, I knew I'd have to do some freezing if I wanted to use them before they went bad. That meant a day of peeling skin and cutting the fruit. My hands were tired by the end but I have a few ziplock bags of fruit ready for whatever I want to make.

Plus, I have some disks of peach pulp that I can drop into an iced tea pitcher.

And my dad even joined the party and made this great jam.



After that, I asked for ideas on what to make. Baked good seemed to be the number one recommendation but after all the peach peeling and chopping, I was too tired to deal with pie crust so I went for this strudel using puff pastry, which I had in my freezer. I cut down the sugar quite a bit so that it could be eaten with ice cream and not be too sweet. It turned out great!






Next up - my apple tree is ready for picking!

Have a peachy week.

CC
www.cardenoc.com